Flowers Direct Review

Other than the colour scheme used, this website is almost the twin of flowergram.co.uk. In fact, reading through the information provided, this is because the two companies joined forces since May 2007. Hence, it is not unusual to note they offer the same named selections (eg. within the ‘traditional’ collection, both websites have the same pictures of ‘Golden Times, ‘Pink Candy’, ‘Patience’, ‘Destiny’, ‘White Dream’).

The pictures are not always of consistent quality. Sometimes the background appears too white giving the effect of too much ‘glare’. The pictures are also not very large. You will need to double click it to get a better view. Once clicked, however, you will have a choice of viewing your selection from 3 different angles (an aerial view, a front view and a close-up). Where applicable, it will also inform you that you have a choice of colour options to choose from too. All said, the website is easy to use and shop from. I give it marks 3/5.

I think the ‘value’ collection is really affordable with prices starting at only £19 for a bouquet of carnations in your choice of red, cream or yellow colour (as it did not specify the number of stems but judging from the picture advertised, it may be about 20 stems). Also, look out for its 'Special Offers' as you can find some good discounts. They have a big selection in the ‘Mother’s Day Flowers’ section (2 pages worth) with 24 different options. Prices start at £25.99 for 'Just Tulips', a simple bouquet of hand-tied tulips in a vase (with a free box of chocolates too!) or its 'Fragrant Glow’ at £35.00, an all-round basket arrangement made up of assorted colours scented freesias. Currently, they are offering free delivery on all orders over £30. Just type in 'FREEDEL' as voucher code at checkout time. This promotion ends on 24 February.

This website is not only dedicated to flowers and plants. There is a wide selection of alternative gifts available from hampers, alcoholic wines and champagne, glassware to mens and ladies fragrances. Together with the floral gifts, you can choose to add extra gift of balloon (£7.00), vase (£12.00), bear (£9.00) or chocolates (£8.00). There is also the option to ‘upgrade’ the size of bouquet (from standard to medium or large) where additional charges apply. The delivery charge is £3.99, normally for the same day delivery or the next, provided you order before 2.30pm.

I placed an order for the ‘Misty’ purple and limes bouquet in its ‘handtied bouquets’ section on 22 Jan 08. Total cost £33.99 (including delivery charge). I lost out on the 5% online discount as I did not enter the voucher code at checkout time. Although the bouquet was due on the same day, it did not take place because the driver had already left for the day. An email was sent giving the option to cancel or to re-schedule which I did.

The next day 23 Jan 08, the delivery arrived via a local florist at 4pm. It was a very good looking and presentable hand-tied bouquet in purple colour co-ordinated gift wrap. I received 1 lime green Shamrock chrysanthemum, 2 purple trachelium, 5 blue lisianthus, 5 purple statice, 2 cream brassica (cabbage flower) and 10 salal leaves as greenery. The flowers looked fresh and healthy and appeared to be well conditioned although I had a couple of damaged stems of lisianthus. The message was hand-written onto a colour co-ordinated small florist’s card, attached onto a stick within the bouquet. Overall, this is a high quality presentation as 3 days on, all the flowers are still doing well and the display looks just as fresh and ‘zingy’ as the first day.

Visit Flowersdirect.co.uk

 

	Website & Ordering	Delivery	Mum's Impression & WOW factor	Overall
	The best we found. Excellent photographs	Great attention to detail	Classy and beautifully arranged	Definitely an impressive experience
	Quick and easy to use	Arrived on time and safely. Well packaged.	Great presentation	The best choice for roses.
	Wide choice, easy to use and great photos	Couldn't be bettered	Great looking flowers, just as promised	Sending flowers online as it should be
	Great website, photography and description	Well packaged, good printed gift card and delivered on time	Great bouquet with good mix of blooms all working well together	As charming as your favourite ice cream sundae!
	Fast, easy to use. Minor problem with typing gift message	Great packing, delivered on time	Beautiful roses, excellent condition	Brilliant blooms and fantastic value
	Unusual colours and interesting range.	Arrived safely, and the tissue paper was a great touch	Excellent impact	Overall a very positive transaction
	Worked well, but did not inspire	Missed delivery date, but kept me updated	Fresh, contemporary bouquet	The flowers were the best part of the transaction
	Adequate, but did not excel	Good same day service	Ordinary, plain, uninspiring	Only let down where it really counts - with the flowers
	More descriptions would be appreciated	Well protected and delivered on time	Not the 'ultimate' which was described	Average service and flowers
	Limited photographs and descriptions	Packaging could be improved and flowers delivered with no water or moisture container	Leaves much to be desired	A bad experience all round